Slick new corporate security operations around the world have replaced the mythical soldiers of fortune like "Mad Mike" Hoare, "Black Jacques" Schramme, and Bob Denard, mercenaries who drank hard, womanized, and wreaked havoc throughout Africa in the wars that followed independence from colonial rule. Today's mercenary is more likely to wear a business suit or stand guard outside over an oil pipeline. Companies like Defence Systems Limited guard British Petroleum's pipelines in Colombia, Dyncorp polices the Mexican border while Military Professionals Resources Incorporated trains US soldiers in Kuwait and Iraq in live-weapons fire.

Failed Watchkeeper Drone To Be Weaponized For Sale To Polandby Chris Thompson, Special to CorpWatchJanuary 13th, 2016Thales, the French aerospace company, is hoping to develop a weaponized version of the Watchkeeper drone to sell to Poland. This is despite a series of software glitches and accidents that resulted in many of the first 54 Watchkeepers that were delivered to the UK to be sitting idle.

AFGHANISTAN: Maladies of Interpretersby Joshua Foust, New York Times September 21st, 2009For most American troops, the only connection they have to the locals — whether soldiers in the Afghan army or villagers they’re trying to secure — is through their interpreters. Yet the way the military uses translators is too often haphazard and sometimes dangerously negligent.

Bush is gone, but Halliburton keeps cashing checksby Pratap Chatterjee, Salon.comJune 3rd, 2009All was remarkably staid as shareholders celebrated Halliburton's $4 billion in operating profits in 2008 at the company's recent AGM in Houston, a striking 22 percent return at a time when many companies are announcing record losses. At the same time, Sen. Byron Dorgan's Senate Democratic Policy Committee was holding a hearing on Capitol Hill focused on abuses by former subsidiary KBR.

Swedish Companies Accused Of Profiting Off Refugee Housingby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogOctober 23rd, 2015Swedish companies have been accused of profiting excessively from the recent influx of refugees to Europe, taking advantage of the government expenditures of some $7 billion to house and support over 150,000 new immigrants this year.

General Atomics Funded U.S. Think Tank That Promoted Increased Drone Exportsby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchAugust 8th, 2016A group of investigative journalists have revealed that General Atomics helped fund the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a major think tank in Washington DC, when it recommended that the Obama administration loosen export rules to allow the company sell more remotely piloted military aircraft.

U.S. Air Force Hires Private Companies To Fly Drones In War Zones
by Chris Thompson, CorpWatch BlogDecember 16th, 2015U.S. Air Force officials has begun to hire private companies to fly drone aircraft operating over Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The unprecedented move is in response to demands from the Obama administration to dramatically expand the drone war just as the Pentagon faces a critical shortage of military pilots.

Outsourcing the Kill Chain: Eleven Drone Contractors Revealedby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogAugust 3rd, 2015Hundreds of private sector intelligence analysts are being paid to review surveillance footage from U.S. military drones in Central Asia and the Middle East, according to a new report from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

French Tribunal Investigates Qosmos Over Surveillance Software Use In Syriaby Fatima Hansia, CorpWatch Blog July 21st, 2015Qosmos – a French technology company – is being investigated for acting as an “assisted witness” in alleged torture in Syria. The specialized crimes unit of the Paris Tribunal has agreed to study the use of Qosmos surveillance software by Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, following complaints filed by two human rights NGOs.

Asylum Seekers Protest Mitie Management of U.K. Detention Centerby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMarch 13th, 2015U.K. asylum seekers have gone on hunger strike to protest living conditions at Harmondsworth immigration detention centre, which is run by Mitie, a British outsourcing company. The protests come months after Mitie took over from the Geo Group whose contract was canceled after prison authorities found repeated problems.

U.S. Government Buys Surveillance Technology To Track Drivers in Real Timeby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogFebruary 9th, 2015Local government officials have the ability to track individual drivers in the U.S. in real time and take pictures of the occupants of their vehicles, with new “truly Orwellian” technology purchased from companies like Vigilant Solutions, according to new documents uncovered by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Firestone Tire's Role in Funding Liberian Warlord Revealedby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogNovember 19th, 2014Firestone, a U.S. tire company, paid out millions of dollars to Charles Taylor, a Liberian warlord in the 1990s, despite knowing about his brutal human rights record, according to documents uncovered by ProPublica, an investigative journalism website. Taylor is now serving a 50 year prison sentence for war crimes.

Four Blackwater Guards Found Guilty in 2007 Baghdad Killingsby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogOctober 26th, 2014A federal jury has found three former Blackwater contractors guilty of manslaughter and a fourth guilty of murder for killing 17 Iraqis in Baghdad's Nissour Square on September 16, 2007. The men were private security guards hired to provide security to U.S. government employees at the time.

Hacking Team Malware Targeted Saudi Arabia Protestorsby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJune 27th, 2014Malicious software from Hacking Team of Italy that can be used to spy on cell phones has been found by Citizen Lab activists to have been used to target people in Saudi Arabia. The software was bundled into a fake phone application for Qatif Today, a local news site.

G4S To End Israel Prison Contracts Following Protestsby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJune 8th, 2014G4S, the Anglo-Danish security contractor, has agreed to withdraw from prison work in Israel after activists disrupted the company annual general meeting for the second year in a row. The company is also under fire for ill-treatment of detainees in the UK, including the death of an Angolan man.

KBR and Halliburton Can Be Sued For Iraq Toxic Burn Pits, Court Rulesby Fatima Hansia, CorpWatch BlogApril 17th, 2014KBR and Halliburton – two major U.S. military contractors – can be sued for the health impacts of trash incineration on U.S. soldiers who served in the war in Iraq, according to a new court decision that allows a series of 57 lawsuits against the companies to go forward.

Failed Cuban “Twitter” Project Designed By U.S. Government Contractorsby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogApril 8th, 2014ZunZuneo - a now defunct social media platform similar to Twitter – was designed to undermine the Cuban government by two private contractors: Creative Associates International from Washington DC and Mobile Accord, a Denver based company. Funding was provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Hacking Team Spy Software Identified on U.S. Serversby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMarch 7th, 2014Two U.S. companies – Linode of New Jersey and Rackspace of Texas – have been hosting surveillance software designed by Hacking Team of Italy, according to a new report. The software was allegedly been used by governments in Ethiopia, Morocco, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to track dissidents.

Trafficking Lawsuit Against KBR for Wrongful Deaths in Iraq Dismissedby Richard Smallteacher, CorpWatch BlogJanuary 17th, 2014Families of 12 Nepali workers killed in Iraq in August 2004 have been denied permission by a federal judge to sue KBR, the former subsidiary of Halliburton of Houston, in an abrupt reversal of a previous court decision.

The Jason Bourne Strategy: CIA Contractors Do Hollywoodby Pratap Chatterjee, Tomdispatch.comDecember 5th, 2013Global Response Staff is a new unit set up by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) to hire private security contractors to accompany dangerous spying missions. Unlike Jason Bourne - the fictional character on which they appear to be modeled on - this gang cannot shoot straight.

Six Telecom Companies Face Formal Complaint for Collusion With UK Spy Agencyby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchNovember 4th, 2013Six global telecommunications companies - British Telecom, Interoute, Level Three, Verizon Enterprise, Viatel and Vodafone Cable - are the subject of a formal complaint by Privacy International for potential violation of human rights such as the right to privacy and freedom of expression.

U.S. Security Checks Contractor Has Record of Rushing Investigationsby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogSeptember 27th, 2013U.S. Investigations Services (USIS), the company that signed off on a background check into Aaron Alexis, the military contractor who shot 12 people dead on a U.S. Navy base in Washington DC last week, has a record of rushing investigations, according to a number of former employees.

Glimmerglass Intercepts Undersea Cable Traffic for Spy Agenciesby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchAugust 22nd, 2013Glimmerglass, a northern California company that sells optical fiber technology, offers government agencies a software product called “CyberSweep” to intercept signals on undersea cables. The company says their technology can analyze Gmail and Yahoo! Mail as well as social media like Facebook and Twitter to discover “actionable intelligence.”

ACLU Reveals FBI Hacking Contractorsby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchAugust 20th, 2013James Bimen Associates of Virginia and Harris Corporation of Florida have contracts with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to hack into computers and phones of surveillance targets, according to Chris Soghoian, principal technologist at American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.

U.S. Maintains Aid for Contractors in Egypt, Despite Massacreby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogAugust 14th, 2013Egyptian security forces launched a massive crackdown on pro-democracy protestors killing around 300 people this morning. Despite near universal condemnation for the violence, the U.S. government has refused cut off the multi-billion dollar aid program that pays companies to provide support to the Egyptian government.

Family Sues G4S For Killing Angolan Deporteeby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJuly 10th, 2013The family of Jimmy Mubenga, an Angolan refugee in the UK, has brought a civil lawsuit against G4S, the world’s largest private security company. Mubenga died on October 12, 2010 while being restrained by G4S guards who were hired to help deport him from the country.

Surveillance Contractor Bug In Ecuador Embassy Fails to Stop Wikileaksby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJuly 3rd, 2013Bugging equipment from the Surveillance Group Limited, a British private detective agency, has been found in the Ecuadorean embassy in London where Julian Assange, editor of Wikileaks, has taken refuge. The spy devices have so far failed to foil the whistle blowing group's daring exploits to support Edward Snowden.

Edward Snowden and the National Security Industrial Complexby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch/IPS*June 17th, 2013Military contractor Booz Allen Hamilton is in the news over two of its former employees: Edward Snowden, the whistleblower, and James Clapper, U.S. intelligence czar. A review of Booz Allen's own high level conflicts of interest and shoddy work suggests that Congress should target the company, not the messenger.

Google & Facebook Discussed Secret Systems for U.S. to Spy on Usersby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJune 8th, 2013Google and Facebook have discussed – and possibly built – special portals for the U.S. government to snoop on user data, according to revelations sparked by an investigative series of articles by Glenn Greenwald of the Guardian.

Mehadrin "Jaffa" Oranges May Come from Occupied Palestinian Landby Puck Lo, CorpWatch BlogApril 4th, 2013Jaffa oranges sold in European supermarkets labeled "Made in Israel" may have been grown and packaged in the occupied Palestinian West Bank, according to a report from the Boycott Divest Sanction (BDS) movement, an international coalition of Palestinian NGOs and activists.

Boeing Helps Kill Proposed Law to Regulate Dronesby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMarch 30th, 2013Boeing, the aircraft manufacturing giant from Seattle, helped defeat a Republican proposal in Washington state that would have forced government agencies to get approval to buy unmanned aerial vehicles, popularly known as drones, and to obtain a warrant before using them to conduct surveillance on individuals.

Contractors Alleged to Abuse Alcohol, Drugs, Guns at Parties In Afghanistanby Puck Lo, CorpWatch BlogNovember 14th, 2012Jorge Scientific Corporation, a military contractor with nearly a billion dollars in U.S. government contracts, is being sued by former employees for “shocking misconduct” in Afghanistan. The charges include illegal and reckless use of firearms, abusing alcohol and drugs and billing the government for property destroyed during raucous parties.

TrapWire Leaks Shine Light on New Video Tracking Technologies
by Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogAugust 14th, 2012TrapWire, am intelligence contractor founded and run by former CIA officers, offers to track “suspicious” activities from surveillance video footage. The company has been spotlighted in a new Wikileaks release.

Blackwater Pays Millions To Settle Arms Smuggling Chargesby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogAugust 9th, 2012Blackwater has agreed to pay the U.S. government $7.5 million to settle 17 federal criminal charges that include supplying guns to the king of Jordan and offering private security and military training services to South Sudan without a license.

U.S. Federal Agencies Targeted Employees With Commercial Spy Softwareby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJuly 23rd, 2012SpectorSoft spyware is the latest tool to be employed by some U.S. government officials to conduct surveillance on staff, The Florida company has been revealed to be selling “keylogger” software to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to track every digital move of certain employees.

United Nations, Olympics Accused of Using “Unaccountable” Private Securityby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJuly 13th, 2012Two global institutions – the United Nations and the Olympic Games – face charges that they are using “unaccountable and out of control” private security contractors. One of the companies at the heart of both controversies is G4S, a private security company in the UK.

Spies in Africa’s Skies: New Contractors for the Pentagonby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJune 18th, 2012Sierra Nevada Corporation from Sparks, Nevada, and R-4, Inc. from Eatontown, New Jersey - are two companies at the forefront of the covert war in Africa, where they operate small Swiss aircraft to spy on behalf of the U.S. Special Operations Command.

CIA "Rendition" Contractors Data Cache To Be Released by Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMay 22nd, 2012Details of 6,500 "extraordinary rendition" flights conducted by CIA contractors to transport over 1,100 victims to and from prison sites around the world are to be released by NGOs Reprieve Access Info Europe working in collaboration with Kent University and Kingston University in the UK.

U.S. Courts to Try Contractors for Torture at Abu Ghraib
by Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMay 17th, 2012Two U.S. companies can be prosecuted for the alleged role of their employees in torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, a U.S. federal court ruled last week. The companies are CACI of Arlington, Virginia, which provided the interrogators at the prison, and L-3/Titan of New York city, which provided translators at the same location.

Cashing in on Terrorismby Anna Feigenbaum, CorpWatch BlogApril 24th, 2012"Is Rioting a Form of Urban Terrorism?" The headline for a press release was a provocative introduction to the annual Counter Terror Expo in Olympia, London, which opens this week. (April 25 & 26) Eight thousand visitors are expected to descend on 400 exhibitions of counter-terrorism technologies and services.

Lockheed, General Dynamics Face UK Bank Boycott Over Cluster Bombsby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogApril 10th, 2012Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics of the U.S. face divestment from major UK banks, for manufacturing cluster bombs. The Guardian newspaper has exclusively reported that Aviva, the UK’s largest insurance company; Scottish Widows (part of the Lloyds Banking Group) and the Co-op Bank will sell shares in these companies, following a similar move by the Royal Bank of Scotland last year.

Militarizing the Middle East: Arms Shipments Continue Despite Abusesby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMarch 21st, 2012The U.S. sends weapons to Egypt, Russia sends weapons to to Syria and the European Union to Saudi Arabia, according to new reports from Amnesty and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. This is despite conclusive evidence that these weapons are being used for human rights abuse.

State of Surveillanceby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch/The Bureau of Investigative JournalismDecember 1st, 2011A new cache of Wikileaks documents on the secretive surveillance industry uncovers 160 companies in 25 countries that make $5 billion a year selling sophisticated surveillance technology to security authorities around the world to secretly carry out mass surveillance of people via their phones and computers.

SYRIA: US technology used to censor the Internet in Syriaby Pratap Chatterjee, The Bureau of Investigative JournalismOctober 23rd, 2011Technology from a major Silicon Valley company, Blue Coat, is being used by the Syrian government to censor the Internet and monitor dissidents, according to activists. The equipment can be used to monitor users and block access to certain websites, such as social networking applications like Facebook and internet phone sites like Skype, which were key to the Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia

LIBYA: Censorship Inc.by Paul Sonne and Margaret Coker, The Wall Street JournalAugust 30th, 2011Amesys of France, VASTech of South Africa and ZTE Corp. of China provided technology to Libya that was allegedly used for the repression of Libyan citizens during the four decade rule of Colonel Gadhafi.

Subcontracting Substandard Servicesby David Isenberg, Special to CorpWatchJune 27th, 2011Najlaa International Catering Services of Kuwait faces numerous complaints and court actions for non-payment of bills and alleged fraud for work conducted on U.S. military bases in Iraq. The allegations show that the Pentagon is still unable to manage subcontractors eight years after the invasion.

Billion Dollar Audit Missed by Pentagon Watchdogby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchAugust 30th, 2010Military auditors failed to complete an audit of the business systems of Ohio-based Mission Essential Personnel even though it had billed for $1 billion worth of work over the last four years, largely done in Afghanistan.

U.S. Congressional Wartime Commission Targets Armed Contractorsby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchJune 23rd, 2010This week, almost a decade after the U.S. "War on Terror" began, the Commission on Wartime Contracting held two days of hearings into the role of private contractors in conducting and supporting war. The Congressional witness table included Aegis, DynCorp and Triple Canopy. Curiously, Blackwater was not called; and the CEO of Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions failed to appear.

LIBERIA: Hunting for Liberia’s Missing Millionsby Doreen Carvjal, New York TimesMay 30th, 2010How much money did Charles G. Taylor, the deposed president of Liberia, siphon out of his war-shattered country, and where is it? Investigators are developing a new strategy involving filing civil damage claims against companies, governments and international banks that they contend aided Mr. Taylor in illegal transactions.

US/AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN: U.S. Is Still Using Private Spy Ring, Despite Doubtsby Mark Mazzetti, New York Times May 15th, 2010Top military officials continue to rely on a secret network of private spies set up by Michael D. Furlong, despite concerns about the legality of the operation. A New York Times review found Mr. Furlong’s operatives still providing information, with contractors still being paid under a $22 million contract, managed by Lockheed Martin and supervised by a Pentagon office.

Afghanistan, Inc.: A CorpWatch Investigative Report (2006)by Fariba Nawa, Special to CorpWatchApril 30th, 2010The recent boom in humanitarian aid has an underbelly largely invisible to charity sector outsiders. “Easy money: the great aid scam," packs a biting critique (Linda Polman, The Sunday Times Online, April 25).
In 2006, CorpWatch’s "Afghanistan, Inc.", cited by Polman, drilled down on reconstruction dollars, in what’s become known as “Afghaniscam.” We bring our report to you again.

AFGHANISTAN: Policing Afghanistan: How Afghan Police Training Became a Train Wreckby Pratap Chatterjee, Tom DispatchMarch 21st, 2010The Pentagon faces a tough choice: Should it award a billion-dollar contract for training the Afghan National Police to Xe (formerly Blackwater), a company made infamous when its employees killed 17 Iraqis in Baghdad in 2007, or to DynCorp, a company made infamous in Bosnia in 1999 when some of its employees were caught trafficking young girls for sex?

AFGHANISTAN/US: Outsourcing intelligenceby David Ignatius, Washington Post March 17th, 2010The headline read like something you might see in the conspiracy-minded Pakistani press: "Contractors Tied to Effort to Track and Kill Militants." But the story appeared in Monday's New York Times, and it highlighted some big problems that have developed in the murky area between military and intelligence activities.

Afghanistan Spy Contract Goes Sour for Pentagonby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch March 16th, 2010Mike Furlong, a top Pentagon official, is alleged to have hired a company called International Media Ventures to supply information for drone strikes and assassinations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to a complaint filed by the CIA and revealed by the New York Times on March 15.

AFGHANISTAN/US: Contractors Tied to Effort to Track and Kill Militantsby DEXTER FILKINS and MARK MAZZETTI, New York Times March 15th, 2010Under the cover of a benign government information-gathering program, a Defense Department official set up a network of private contractors in Afghanistan and Pakistan to help track and kill suspected militants, according to military officials and businessmen in Afghanistan and the United States. The official, Michael D. Furlong, hired contractors from private security companies that employed former C.I.A. and Special Forces operatives.

AFGHANISTAN: Iraq Lessons Ignored at Kabul Power Plantby Pratap Chatterjee, Inter Press News Service February 4th, 2010A diesel-fueled power plant, nearing completion just outside Kabul, demonstrates that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its contractors have failed to learn lessons from identical mistakes in Iraq, despite clearly signposted advice from oversight agencies.

US: Obama's Budget Calls for Billions in New Spending for Dronesby Jason Leopold, TruthoutFebruary 2nd, 2010Shares of major US defense contractors including Boeing, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman rose upon the unveiling of President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2011 spending plan for the Pentagon, part of the president's overall $3.8 trillion budget proposal. More than $2 billion will be used to purchase unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, blamed for a significant rise in civilian casualties in the "war on terror."

Agility Attempts to Vault Fraud Chargesby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchFebruary 1st, 2010Agility, a Kuwait-based multi-billion dollar logistics company spawned by the U.S. invasion of Iraq, is facing criminal charges for over-billing the U.S. taxpayer on more than $8.5 billion worth of food supply contracts in the Iraq war zone. If the lawsuit is successful, the company could owe the U.S. government as much as $1 billion.

US/KUWAIT: Settlement possible in military contractor fraud caseby Bill Rankin, Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionJanuary 29th, 2010Kuwaiti firm Agility (formerly Public Warehousing) indicted here for overcharging the Army on an $8.5 billion contract is negotiating a possible settlement with the Justice Department. On Nov. 9, a federal grand jury in Atlanta indicted the firm on charges it gouged the U.S. government by overcharging on its contract to supply food to American troops in Iraq.

US: F.B.I. Charges Arms Sellers With Foreign Bribesby Diana B. Henriques, New York Times January 20th, 2010On Tuesday, 22 top-level arms industry executives, including a senior sales executive at Smith & Wesson, were arrested in what Justice Department officials called the first undercover sting ever aimed at violations of the federal ban on corporate bribes paid to get foreign business. The individuals are being prosecuted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

US/IRAQ: U.S. Companies Join Race on Iraqi Oil Bonanzaby TIMOTHY WILLIAMS, New York Times January 13th, 2010American companies have been arriving in Iraq to pursue an expected multibillion-dollar bonanza of projects to revive the country’s petroleum industry. But there are questions about the Iraqi government’s capacity to police the companies. “These are for-profit concerns and they are trying to make as much money as they can,” said Pratap Chatterjee of CorpWatch.

NIGERIA: Ex-militant leader heads SPDC’s patrol teamby Chris Ejim, Nigerian CompassJanuary 8th, 2010Authorities of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) have unveiled a new security strategy for securing oil pipelines and platforms within the Niger Delta region. Shell has appointed former MEND militant commander, Eris Paul, and his company, Eristex Pipeline Patrol, to secure oil facilities in the Southern Ijaw area of the Delta.

AFGHANISTAN: Lost in Limbo: Injured Afghan Translators Struggle to Surviveby Pratap Chatterjee, ProPublicaDecember 17th, 2009Local translators are hidden casualties of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. military uses defense contractors to hire local residents to serve as translators for the troops. These local translators often live, sleep and eat with soldiers. And yet when they are wounded, they are often ignored by the U.S. system designed to provide them medical care and disability benefits, according to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times and ProPublica.

JORDAN: For AIG’s Man in Jordan, War Becomes a Business Opportunityby T. Christian Miller, ProPublicaDecember 17th, 2009For Emad Hatabah, the war in Iraq became a business opportunity. As AIG's chief representative in Jordan, he was responsible for coordinating the care for hundreds of Iraqis who had been injured while working under contract for U.S. troops. He fulfilled his functions by sending business to himself, his friends and business associates, according to interviews and records.

US: Up to 56,000 more contractors likely for Afghanistanby Walter Pincus , Washington Post December 16th, 2009The surge of 30,000 U.S. troops into Afghanistan could be accompanied by a surge of up to 56,000 contractors, vastly expanding the presence of personnel from the U.S. private sector in a war zone, according to a study by the Congressional Research Service.

US: Blackwater Guards Tied to Secret C.I.A. Raidsby JAMES RISEN and MARK MAZZETTI, New York TimesDecember 10th, 2009Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.’s most sensitive activities — clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials.

IRAQ: Oil Companies Look to the Futureby Timothy Williams, New York Times December 2nd, 2009More than six and a half years after the United States-led invasion here that many believed was about oil, the major oil companies are finally gaining access to Iraq’s petroleum reserves. But they are doing so at far less advantageous terms than they once envisioned. The companies seem to have calculated that it is worth their while to accept deals with limited profit opportunities now, in order to cash in on more lucrative development deals in the future.

US: DynCorp Fires Executive Counselby August Cole, Wall Street JournalNovember 28th, 2009DynCorp International Inc. said it has terminated one of its top lawyers, a move that comes on the heels of the government contractor's disclosure that some of its subcontractors may have broken U.S. law in trying to speed up getting licenses and visas overseas.

Black & Veatch's Tarakhil Power Plant: White Elephant in Kabulby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch November 19th, 2009In a secluded valley a few miles from Kabul's international airport, $285 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars have flowed into a Black & Veatch-built power plant outside Tarakhil village. But, far from the public relations coup the project was intended to supply, the plant has run into problems with planning, cost over-runs and alleged corruption.

AFGHANISTAN: Paying Off the Warlords,
Anatomy of an Afghan Culture of Corruptionby Pratap Chatterjee, TomDispatch.comNovember 17th, 2009Among the dozens of businesses with lucrative Afghan and U.S. taxpayer-financed reconstruction deals are two extremely well connected companies -- Ghazanfar and Zahid Walid -- that helped to swell the election coffers of President Hamid Karzai as well as the family business of his running mate, the country's new vice president, warlord Mohammed Qasim Fahim.

Spies for Hire: New Online Database of U.S. Intelligence Contractorsby Tim Shorrock, Special to CorpWatch November 16th, 2009CorpWatch joins with Tim Shorrock today, the first journalist to blow the whistle on the privatization of U.S. intelligence, in releasing Spies for Hire.org, a groundbreaking database focusing on the dozens of corporations that provide classified intelligence services to the United States government.

Uranium Corporation of India Limited: Wasting Away Tribal Landsby Moushumi Basu, Special to CorpWatch October 7th, 2009In Eastern India's Jharkand State, tensions are mounting between Indigenous tribal communities and the Uranium Corporation of India Limited, or UCIL. Heavy security at a May public hearing in Jadugoda prevented many local activists and villagers from entering. But outside the hearing, activists from the Jharkhandi Organization Against Radiation (JOAR) argued their case for protecting their health and the environment from horrific impacts of radioactive contaminated waste resulting from uranium mining.

US: Despite Slump, U.S. Role as Top Arms Supplier Growsby Thom Shanker, New York TimesSeptember 6th, 2009Despite a recession that knocked down global arms sales last year, the United States expanded its role as the world’s leading weapons supplier, increasing its share to more than two-thirds of all foreign armaments deals, according to a new Congressional study.

AFGHANISTAN: Wackenhut aids inquiry into its Afghanistan contractorCNN.comSeptember 3rd, 2009This week the Project on Government Oversight released damning allegations of deviant hazing at a camp for security guards in Afghanistan. Sparking questions from the State Department, POGO warned the problems are "posing a significant threat to the security of the embassy and its personnel."

US: New Hire Highlights Altegrity's Growing Ambitionby Thomas Heath, Washington Post August 17th, 2009For more than 12 years, Falls Church-based USIS quietly scrutinized the backgrounds of individuals who needed security clearance to work in the U.S. government or in the private sector. Now re-named Altegrity, the company has ambitions of securing government contracts for much more than investigation and data-collection.

US: DynCorp Billed U.S. $50 Million Beyond Costs in Defense Contractby V. Dion Haynes, Washington Post August 12th, 2009A Defense Department auditor, appearing before the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, testified Tuesday that DynCorp International billed the government $50 million more than the amount specified in a contract to provide dining facilities and living quarters for military personnel in Kuwait.

Mission Essential, Translators Expendableby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch August 11th, 2009Ohio-based Mission Essential Personnel supplies over 2,000
translators to the Pentagon in Afghanistan, who play a critical role in protecting local and military lives. These interpreters are a key communications link. But if they are wounded or killed, they are often left to fend for themselves. This special features video of CorpWatch interviews with three Afghan whistleblowers, recorded in country in April. Click through to hear their story.

Damming Magdalena: Emgesa Threatens Colombian Communitiesby Jonathan Luna, Special to CorpWatch July 21st, 2009Near the town of La Jagua, overlooking the Magdalena River, the landscape is dotted with concrete markers declaring the land, river, and everything else a “public utility” that Colombia has given to the energy company Emgesa as part of the Quimbo Hydroelectric Project. A construction permit was granted in May, with the dam scheduled for full operation by 2014.

IRAN: Iran's Web Spying Aided By Western Technology by Christopher Rhoads and Loretta Chao, Wall Street Journal June 22nd, 2009The Iranian regime has developed one of the world's most sophisticated mechanisms for controlling and censoring the Internet. The Iranian government appears to be engaging in a practice often called deep packet inspection. The monitoring capability was provided, at least in part, by a joint venture of Siemens AG, the German conglomerate, and Nokia Corp., the Finnish cellphone company.

Is Halliburton Forgiven and Forgotten? Or How to Stay Out of Sight While Profiting From the War in Iraqby Pratap Chatterjee, TomDispatch.comJune 3rd, 2009At Halliburton's recent annual shareholders meeting in Houston, all was remarkably staid as the company celebrated its $4 billion in 2008 operating profits, a striking 22% return at a time when many companies are announcing record losses.
Just three months ago, however, Halliburton didn't hesitate to pay $382 million in fines to the U.S. Department of Justice as part of the settlement of a controversial KBR gas project in Nigeria in which the company admitted to paying a $180 million bribe to government officials.

US: Contractors Vie for Plum Work, Hacking for U.S. Governmentby CHRISTOPHER DREW and JOHN MARKOFF, New York TimesMay 30th, 2009The Obama administration’s push into cyberwarfare has set off a rush among the biggest military companies for billions of dollars in new defense contracts. Nearly all of the largest military companies — including Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon — have major cyber contracts with the military and intelligence agencies.

US: Chevron annual meeting heats up over Ecuador suitby Jordan Robertson, Washington Post May 27th, 2009In a combative and sometimes colorful annual meeting, Chevron's CEO and chairman exchanged barbs with activists over pollution in the Amazon rain forest and the company's human rights record. The nation's second-largest oil company is awaiting a verdict from a judge in Ecuador that could come with a $27 billion price tag.

US: U.S. Cracks Down on Corporate Bribesby DIONNE SEARCEY, Wall Street Journal May 26th, 2009The Justice Department is increasing its prosecutions of alleged acts of foreign bribery by U.S. corporations, forcing them to take costly steps to defend against scrutiny. The crackdown under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA -- a post-Watergate law largely dormant for decades -- now extends across five continents and penetrates entire industries.

The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Reportby Antonia Juhasz, http://www.TrueCostofChevron.com/May 26th, 2009Chevron's 2008 annual report is a glossy celebration of the company's most profitable year in its history. What Chevron's annual report does not tell its shareholders is the true cost paid for those financial returns, or the global movement gaining voice and strength against the company's abuses. This jointly-produced report documents negative impacts of Chevron's operations around the globe, in stark contrast to the message sent by the company's ubiquitous "Human Energy" advertising campaign.

FRANCE/UAE: Gulf base shows shift in France’s focusby Ben Hall and Andrew England, Financial TimesMay 25th, 2009France's new naval base in Abu Dhabi, its first overseas military base in 50 years, has sparked a round of lobbying on behalf of lucrative business for French companies including Dassault, the military aircraft maker, and a consortium of Total, GdF-Suez and Areva, which is bidding to build two nuclear power stations in the UAE. Dassault is hoping to sell as many as 60 of its Rafale fighters to the UAE.

Mexico’s Other Crisis: Foreign Banksby Kent Paterson, Special to CorpWatch May 15th, 2009The worldwide financial crisis is hitting people in the Global South with particular venom, and disaster profiteering is alive and well. Take Mexico. While entities like Citigroup-owned Banamex get away with charging Mexican credit account-holders usurious interest rates of up to 100 percent, Banamex itself turned nearly $1 billion in profits in 2008.

WORLD: When Chevron Hires Ex-Reporter to Investigate Pollution, Chevron Looks Goodby Brian Stelter, New York Times May 10th, 2009When Chevron learned that “60 Minutes” was preparing a potentially damaging report about oil company contamination of the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador, it hired a former journalist to produce a mirror image of the report, from the corporation’s point of view. An Ecuadorean judge is expected to rule soon on whether Chevron owes up to $27 billion in damages.

IRAN/CHINA: Iranians and Others Outwit Net Censorsby John Markoff, New York Times April 30th, 2009The Internet is no longer just an essential channel for commerce, entertainment and information. It has also become a stage for state control — and rebellion against it. Computers are becoming more crucial in global conflicts, not only in spying and military action, but also in determining what information reaches people around the globe.

US: Contracting Boom Could Fizzle Outby Dana Hedgpeth, Washington Post April 7th, 2009The surge in the U.S. military contracting workforce would ebb under Defense Secretary Gates's budget proposal as the Pentagon moves to replace private workers with full-time civil servants. The move could affect companies such as CACI and SAIC. "We are right-sizing the defense acquisition workforce so we can improve our contract oversight and get a better deal for the taxpayers," said the Pentagon's director of defense procurement and acquisition policy.

US: Gates Proposes Major Changes to Military Programs, Weapons Buysby August Cole, Wall Street Journal April 6th, 2009Defense Secretary Robert Gates unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the Pentagon's top weapons priorities. The shake-up, a combination of defense contract cutbacks and policy changes, will stoke a smoldering debate in Congress, with cuts proposed for Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-22 Raptor and replacement of the president's fleet of Marine One helicopters.

IRAQ: Ex-Blackwater Workers May Return to Iraq Jobsby Rod Nordland, New York Times April 3rd, 2009Late last month Blackwater Worldwide lost its billion-dollar contract to protect American diplomats in Iraq, but by next month many of its private security guards will be back on the job here. The same individuals will just be wearing new uniforms, working for Triple Canopy, the firm that won the State Department’s new contract.

US: Pentagon Weighs Cuts and Revisions of Weaponsby Christopher Drew, New York Times April 3rd, 2009U.S. defense executives and consultants are worried about the sweeping changes in military programs that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is expected to announce on Monday. Weapons systems like missile defense are likely to endure deep cuts.

Policing Afghanistan: Obama's New Strategyby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch March 23rd, 2009A new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan will be unveiled by President Barack Obama this week. It plans to ramp up the training of the Afghan army and police at a cost of some $2 billion a year. Private contractor DynCorp is already lining up to bid for some of the lucrative contracts. This article provides an overview of key reports assessing the training of the Afghan police, and DynCorp's role, to date.

US/AFGHANISTAN: Unknown Afghanistanby Pratap Chatterjee, TomDispatch.comMarch 17th, 2009Want a billion dollars in development aid? If you happen to live in Afghanistan, the two quickest ways to attract attention and so aid from the U.S. authorities are: Taliban attacks or a flourishing opium trade. For those with neither, the future could be bleak. This piece take a look at the lack of reconstruction aid in areas like Bamiyan, Afghanistan.

GEO Group, Inc.: Despite a Crashing Economy, Private Prison Firm Turns a Handsome Profitby Erin Rosa, Special to CorpWatch March 1st, 2009While the nation’s economy flounders, business is booming for The GEO Group Inc., a private prison firm paid millions by the U.S. government. Behind the financial success and expansion of the for-profit security company, there are increasing charges of negligence, civil rights violations, abuse and even death.

US: 70 Youths Sue Former Judges in Detention Kickback Caseby Ian Urbina, New York Times February 26th, 2009More than 70 juveniles and their families filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday against two former judges who pleaded guilty this month in a scheme that involved their taking kickbacks to put young offenders in privately run detention centers. The two privately operated centers are run by PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care.

MEXICO: U.S. Is Arms Bazaar for Mexican Cartels by James C. McKinley, Jr., New York Times February 25th, 2009Phoenix-based gun dealer George Iknadosian of X-Calibur Guns will go on trial on charges he sold hundreds of weapons, mostly AK-47 rifles, to smugglers, knowing they would go to a drug cartel in the western state of Sinaloa. The guns helped fuel the gang warfare in which more than 6,000 Mexicans died last year.

Inheriting Halliburton's Army: What Will Obama Do With KBR?by Pratap Chatterjee, TomDispatch.comFebruary 22nd, 2009President Obama will almost certainly touch down in Baghdad and Kabul in Air Force One sometime in the coming year to meet his counterparts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he will just as certainly pay a visit to a U.S. military base or two. Should he stay to eat with the troops, he will no less certainly choose from a menu prepared by migrant Asian workers under contract to Houston-based KBR, the former subsidiary of Halliburton.

US: The Looming Crisis at the Pentagonby Chalmers Johnson, TomDispatch.comFebruary 2nd, 2009Like much of the rest of the world, Americans know that the U.S. automotive industry is in the grips of what may be a fatal decline. A similar crisis exists when it comes to the military-industrial complex. That crisis has its roots in the corrupt and deceitful practices that have long characterized the high command of the Armed Forces, civilian executives of the armaments industries, and Congressional opportunists and pay-to-play criminals.

US/AFGHANISTAN: Short-staffed USAID tries to keep pace by Ken Dilanian, USA TodayFebruary 1st, 2009Like other government functions, U.S. foreign aid and reconstruction largely has been privatized. USAID now turns to contractors to fulfill its basic mission of fighting poverty and promoting democracy. CorpWatch's 2006 "Afghanistan, Inc" documented problems with Chemonics and other contractors operating in Afghanistan.

US: Deputy SecDef could earn $500K lobbying Pentagonby Lara Jakes, Washington Post January 27th, 2009William J. Lynn, the man nominated to be the Pentagon's second-in-command could make a half-million dollars next month with vested stock he earned as a lobbyist for military contractor Raytheon. This is despite an Obama administration order against "revolving door" lobbyists who become public officials.

Popular Uprising Against Barrick Gold in Tanzania sparked by killing of localby Sakura Saunders, ProtestBarrick.netDecember 14th, 2008Why would "criminals" set fire to millions worth in mine equipment?
How was it that these "intruders" had an estimated 3,000 people backing them up?
In what appears to be a spontaneous civilian movement against Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold miner, thousands of people invaded Barrick`s North Mara Gold Mine this week in Tarime District and destroyed equipment worth $15 million.

IRAQ: Official History Spotlights Iraq Rebuilding Blunders
by JAMES GLANZ and T. CHRISTIAN MILLER, The New York TimesDecember 13th, 2008An unpublished 513-page federal history of the American-led reconstruction of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country, and then molded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucratic turf wars, spiraling violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure.

US: Plea by Blackwater Guard Helps Indict Othersby GINGER THOMPSON and JAMES RISEN, New York Times December 9th, 2008On Monday, the Justice Department unsealed its case against five Blackwater private security guards, built largely around testimony from a sixth guard about the 2007 shootings that left 17 unsuspecting Iraqi civilians dead at a busy Baghdad traffic circle.

US: One Man’s Military-Industrial-Media Complex by DAVID BARSTOW, The New York TimesNovember 29th, 2008The company, Defense Solutions, sought the services of a retired general with national stature, someone who could open doors at the highest levels of government and help it win a huge prize: the right to supply Iraq with thousands of armored vehicles.

CANADA/IRAQ: Drill, Garner, Drillby Anthony Fenton, Mother Jones November 24th, 2008In the history of the Iraq War, one name is perhaps synonymous with the collapse of the Bush administration's hopes for a post-Saddam world: Retired Lt. General Jay M. Garner, who served as the first post-war administrator. This year, he and a small group of former US military leaders, officials, and lobbyists have quietly used their Kurdistan connections to help Canadian companies access some of the region's richest oil fields.

US: The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on Americaby Amy Goodman and James Bamford, Democracy Now!October 14th, 2008The Bush administration’s wiretapping program has come under new scrutiny. Two influential congressional committees have opened probes into allegations US intelligence spied on the phone calls of U.S. military personnel, journalists and aid workers in Iraq. James Bamford discusses the NSA’s domestic sprying, the agency’s failings pre-9/11 and the ties between NSA and the nation’s telecommunications companies.

STATEMENT FROM TAOS INDUSTRIES AND AGILITY
October 7th, 2008A statement from Taos Industries and Agility in response to CorpWatch feature article "One Million Weapons to Iraq; Many Go Missing," published on September 22, 2008.

IRAQ: U.S. to Fund Pro-American Publicity in Iraqi Mediaby Karen DeYoung and Walter Pincus, Washingtom PostOctober 3rd, 2008The Defense Department will pay private U.S. contractors in Iraq up to $300 million over the next three years to produce news stories, entertainment programs and public service advertisements for the Iraqi media in an effort to "engage and inspire" the local population to support U.S. objectives and the Iraqi government.

SOUTH AFRICA: Apartheid lawsuit back in US court SABC NewsSeptember 25th, 2008After six years of battling, the plaintiffs must prove whether certain multinationals enabled the apartheid government to commit acts of gross human rights violations. Among the 21 defendants are oil, vehicle and financial companies which continue to operate in South Africa -- the likes of BP, Shell, Chevron Texaco, Barclays, Daimler Chrysler and Rio Tinto. They stand accused of supporting the former regime with arms and ammunition, financing, fuel, transportation and military technology.

One Million Weapons to Iraq; Many Go Missingby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch September 22nd, 2008An Alabama company controlled by a billionaire Kuwaiti family is the biggest supplier of guns to Iraq. These weapons were paid for by the Pentagon which has lost track of them. A new Amnesty international report says that such unrestrained global arms trading schemes may have catastrophic human rights consequences.

ISRAEL: U.S. approves $330 million in arms deals for Israelby Andrea Shalal-Esa, Reuters September 9th, 2008The U.S. government on Tuesday said it had approved up to $330 million in three separate arms deals for Israel, and sources tracking a much bigger deal for 25 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets said that agreement could be approved later this month.

US: Pentagon Auditors Pressured To Favor Contractors, GAO Saysby Dana Hedgpeth, The Washington PostJuly 24th, 2008Auditors at a Pentagon oversight agency were pressured by supervisors to skew their reports on major defense contractors to make them look more favorable instead of exposing wrongdoing and charges of overbilling, according to an 80-page report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office.

IRAQ: Iraq Case Sheds Light On Secret Contractorsby Siobhan Gorman and August Cole, Wall Street JournalJuly 17th, 2008Court documents and interviews with whistleblowers shed light on persistent problems in the operations of private military and security company MVM, Inc., a top provider of secret security to U.S. intelligence agencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US: General Misled Lawmakers on KBR Work, Senator Says
by JAMES RISEN, The New York TimesJuly 10th, 2008The senator, Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, said at a hearing that Maj. Gen. Jerome Johnson, who was commander of the Army Sustainment Command until last year, made inaccurate statements to the Senate Armed Services Committee about problems with water supplied to American soldiers in Iraq by KBR, the largest defense contractor in Iraq.

Iraq: U.S. Advised Iraqi Ministry on Oil Dealsby Andrew E. Kramer, New York Times June 30th, 2008The Bush administration has disclosed that U.S. advisors in Iraq played a key role in drawing up contracts between the Iraqi government and five major Western oil companies. The no-bid contracts are expected to be awarded Monday to Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Total and Chevron, as well as to several smaller oil companies.

US: Arms Dealer Had Troubled History
by ERIC SCHMITT, The New York TimesJune 25th, 2008When the Army last year awarded a contract worth up to nearly $300 million to a tiny Miami Beach munitions dealer to supply ammunition to Afghanistan’s army and police forces, it was in spite of a very checkered past.

US: Cover-Up Is Cited on Illegal Arms
by ERIC SCHMITT, The New York TimesJune 24th, 2008A military attaché has told Congressional investigators that the American ambassador to Albania endorsed a plan by that country’s defense minister to remove evidence of illegal Chinese origins on ammunition being shipped from Albania to Afghanistan by a Miami Beach arms-dealing company.

US: KBR stake under attack
by Jon Ortiz, Sacramento BeeJune 20th, 2008Sacramento for Democracy and other groups presented CalPERS with what they said were the names of 20,000 petitioners asking the fund to shed its KBR holdings. CalPERS owns about $27 million in KBR stock.

US: Army Overseer Tells of Ouster Over KBR Stirby James Risen, New York TimesJune 17th, 2008Charles M. Smith, the senior civilian overseeing the multibillion-dollar contract with KBR during the first two years of the war, says he was ousted for refusing to approve payment for more than $1 billion in questionable charges to KBR. The Pentagon has recently awarded KBR part of a 10-year, $150 billion contract in Iraq.

US: Lockheed Faulted for Failure to Control Costsby Dana Hedgpeth, Washington PostJune 4th, 2008Lockheed Martin, the biggest U.S. defense contractor, failed to follow military guidelines to track and manage costs on major weapons programs, according to an internal Pentagon document released yesterday by a government watchdog group.

Military contractor’s 747 crashes just before Memorial dayby Pratap ChatterjeeMay 25th, 2008A Kalitta Air plane en route to Bahrain in the Middle East has crashed. The Michigan based company has been linked to the CIA rendition program. It is also the main contractor that flies home bodies of U.S. soldiers after they are killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

IRAQ: Controversial Contractor’s Iraq Work Is Split Up
by JAMES RISEN, The New York TimesMay 24th, 2008For the first time since the war began, the largest single Pentagon contract in Iraq is being divided among three companies, ending the monopoly held by KBR, the Houston-based corporation that has been accused of wasteful spending and mismanagement and of exploiting its political ties to Vice President Dick Cheney.

US: Halliburton CEO says Dubai base the 'right decision'by Brett Clanton, Houston ChronicleMay 21st, 2008Shareholder John Harrington questioned Halliburton CEO David Lesar during the 2008 annual meeting of the company's shareholders Wednesday at the Houstonian Hotel, Club and Spa, over his motives to move to Dubai, suggesting it was designed to dodge paying U.S. taxes or escape blame for past wrongs.

KBR Questioned on Labor Abuses in Iraqby Pratap ChatterjeeMay 7th, 2008Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), the former subsidiary of Halliburton, announced today that it was buying Alabama-based BE&K for $500 million.

Outsourcing Intelligence in Iraq: A CorpWatch Report on L-3/Titan by Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch April 29th, 2008When U.S. troops or embassy officials want to investigate Iraqis - such as interrogating prisoners, the principal intermediary is a Manhattan based-company named L-3. The company has just lost its biggest contract for failing to recruit qualified translators, and is also being investigated for human rights abuses.

CONCLUSIONby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch April 29th, 2008When U.S. troops or embassy officials want to investigate Iraqis - such as interrogating prisoners, the principal intermediary is a Manhattan based-company named L-3. The company has just lost its biggest contract for failing to recruit qualified translators, and is also being investigated for human rights abuses.

Part Two: The Translatorsby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch April 29th, 2008When U.S. troops or embassy officials want to investigate Iraqis - such as interrogating prisoners, the principal intermediary is a Manhattan based-company named L-3. The company has just lost its biggest contract for failing to recruit qualified translators, and is also being investigated for human rights abuses.

Part One: The Interrogatorsby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch April 29th, 2008When U.S. troops or embassy officials want to investigate Iraqis - such as interrogating prisoners, the principal intermediary is a Manhattan based-company named L-3. The company has just lost its biggest contract for failing to recruit qualified translators, and is also being investigated for human rights abuses.

AFGHANISTAN: Supplier Under Scrutiny on Aging Arms for Afghans
by C. J. CHIVERS, The New York TimesMarch 27th, 2008With the award last January of a federal contract worth as much as nearly $300 million, the company, AEY Inc., which operates out of an unmarked office in Miami Beach, became the main supplier of munitions to Afghanistan’s army and police forces. Since then, the company has provided ammunition that is more than 40 years old and in decomposing packaging, according to an examination of the munitions by The New York Times and interviews with American and Afghan officials.

AFGHANISTAN: Missing: The £5bn aid needed to rebuild livesby JEROME STARKEY AND ROSS LYDALL, The ScotsmanMarch 25th, 2008Vast sums of aid are lost in corporate profits of contractors and sub-contractors, which can be as high as 50 per cent on a single contract. A vast amount of aid is absorbed by high salaries, with generous allowances, and other costs of expatriates working for consulting firms and contractors.

Ecuador's Yasuni Park: Oil Exploration or Nature Protection?by Agneta Enström, Special to CorpWatch March 20th, 2008Permission for Petrobras of Brazil to drill for oil in Yasuni National Park, one of the most biologically diverse places in the world, has been suspended, but some damage has already been done by Swedish construction giant Skanska. Unless new money is found to protect the forest, exploration may resume.

IRAQ: KBR Faulted on Water Provided to Soldiersby Dana Hedgpeth, The Washington PostMarch 11th, 2008U.S. soldiers at a military base in Iraq were provided with treated but untested wastewater for nearly two years by KBR, the giant government contractor, and may have suffered health problems as a result, according to a report released yesterday by the Pentagon's inspector general.

Carlyle Group May Buy Major CIA Contractor: Booz Allen Hamiltonby Tim Shorrock , Special to CorpWatch March 8th, 2008The Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest private equity funds, may soon buy out the $2 billion dollar intelligence division of Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the biggest advisors to the U.S. spy community.

CAYMAN ISLANDS: Top Iraq contractor skirts US taxes offshore
by Farah Stockman, The Boston GlobeMarch 6th, 2008Kellogg Brown & Root, the nation's top Iraq war contractor and until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp., has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies based in this tropical tax haven.

US: Inside the world of war profiteers
by David Jackson and Jason Grotto|Tribune reporters, Chicago TribuneFebruary 21st, 2008Hundreds of pages of recently unsealed court records detail how kickbacks shaped the war's largest troop support contract months before the first wave of U.S. soldiers plunged their boots into Iraqi sand.

US: 12 Years for Contractor in Bribery Caseby ELLIOT SPAGAT, APFebruary 20th, 2008A defense contractor was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison Tuesday for bribing former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham with cash, trips, the services of prostitutes and other gifts in exchange for nearly $90 million in Pentagon work.

US: Holes in the Wall
by Melissa del Bosque, The Texas ObserverFebruary 18th, 2008As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security marches down the Texas border serving condemnation lawsuits to frightened landowners, Brownsville resident Eloisa Tamez, 72, has one simple question. She would like to know why her land is being targeted for destruction by a border wall, while a nearby golf course and resort remain untouched.

UK: BAE: secret papers reveal threats from Saudi princeby David Leigh and Rob Evans, The Guardian (UK)February 15th, 2008Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists. He faces accusations that he himself took more than £1bn in secret payments from the arms company BAE.

US: Limbo for U.S. Women Reporting Iraq Assaults
by JAMES RISEN, The New York TimesFebruary 13th, 2008Ms. Kineston is among a number of American women who have reported that they were sexually assaulted by co-workers while working as contractors in Iraq but now find themselves in legal limbo, unable to seek justice or even significant compensation.

US: A Mission to Rebuild Reputationsby Dana Hedgpeth, Washington PostJanuary 17th, 2008Now those promises -- and the public's perception of the Air Force's ability to spend its money prudently -- are being tested by new contracting and public relations challenges. The Air Force is about to award two key contracts worth a total of about $55 billion, and Boeing is in the running for both deals.

QinetiQ Goes Kinetic: Top Rumsfeld Aide Wins Contracts From Spy Office He Set Upby Tim Shorrock , Special to CorpWatch January 15th, 2008A Pentagon office that was reprimanded by the U.S. Congress for spying on antiwar activists, has just awarded a multi-million dollar contract to QinetiQ, a British company that employs Stephen Cambone. Cambone, a former aide to Donald Rumsfeld, helped create the very office that issued the contract.

IRAQ: 2005 Use of Gas by Blackwater Leaves Questionsby JAMES RISEN, New York TimesJanuary 10th, 2008In 2005 Blackwater accidentally dropped teargas on US soldiers, which has raised significant new questions about the role of private security contractors in Iraq, and whether they operate under the same rules of engagement and international treaty obligations that the American military observes.

IRAQ: Sexual Violence: An Occupational Hazard -- In Iraq and at Homeby Marie Tessier, Women's Media CenterDecember 26th, 2007Jamie Leigh Jones was just 20 in 2005 when she took a leap of faith to work in Iraq for her employer, military contractor Kellogg, Brown & Root, then a subsidiary of Halliburton. She went on a mission she believed in. Shortly after her arrival in Iraq, however, Jones' ambitions were dashed in an alleged gang rape by co-workers.

IRAQ: Bosses didn't want to expose Iraqi police corruptionby Henry McDonald, Duncan Campbell and Richard Norton-Taylor, The GuardianDecember 24th, 2007"It appears that ArmorGroup, by taking on extra staff ... and quickly making some redundant, is essentially transferring the risk inherent in such contract work to employees while making fat profits for itself," his MP, Dr Phyllis Starkey, told the House of Commons earlier this year.

The Gunmen of Kabulby Fariba Nawa, Special to CorpWatch December 21st, 2007The booming private security industry in Afghanistan has been the target of a number government raids in the last few months. One of the largest contractors -- United States Protection and Investigations (USPI) from Texas -- has been accused of corruption.

US: DOJ Questioned About '05 Iraq Rape Case by John Porretto, AP NewsDecember 12th, 2007The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee asked the Justice Department on Tuesday to give a full account of its investigation into the alleged rape of a female contract worker in Iraq two years ago.

Climate Change Debate Fuels Greenwash Boomby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch December 11th, 2007On the Indonesian island of Bali, thousands of senior government officials are negotiating a plan to slow global warming. The coal, gas and oil companies that are major producers of greenhouse gases are finally taking notice of these high-level political discussions, and many have mounted spirited public relations exercises to defend themselves.

US: Life Was Lost in Maelstrom of Suspicionby Ginger Thompson and Eric Schmitt, New York TimesDecember 4th, 2007The suicide of a top Air Force procurement officer casts a cloud of suspicion, threatening to plunge a service still struggling to emerge from one of its worst scandals into another quagmire.

Domestic Spying, Inc.by Tim Shorrock , Special to CorpWatch November 27th, 2007A new U.S. intelligence institution will allow government spy agencies to conduct broad surveillance and reconnaissance inside the country for the first time. Contractors like Boeing, BAE Systems, Harris Corporation, L-3 Communications and Science Applications International Corporation are already lining up for possible work.

US: Blackwater Mounts a Defense With Top Talent
by John M. Broder and James Risen, NY TimesNovember 5th, 2007lackwater Worldwide, its reputation in tatters and its lucrative government contracts in jeopardy, is mounting an aggressive legal, political and public relations counterstrike.

US: Blackwater's Owner Has Spies for Hireby Dana Hedgpeth, Washington PostNovember 3rd, 2007The Prince Group, the holding company that owns Blackwater Worldwide, has been building an operation that will sniff out intelligence about natural disasters, business-friendly governments, overseas regulations and global political developments for clients in industry and government.

US: Protest Leads Army to Reconsider Big Contractby Dana Hedgpeth, Washington PostNovember 1st, 2007One of the biggest military contracts to house, feed and provide other services to U.S. military troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait may be canceled and renegotiated after the Government Accountability Office said yesterday that it upheld a protest from two teams that lost the bid.

US: Rice Says ‘Hole’ in U.S. Law Shields Contractors in Iraq
by John M. Broder, NY TimesOctober 26th, 2007Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice conceded on Thursday that there was a “hole” in United States law that had allowed Blackwater USA employees and other armed contractors in Iraq to escape legal jeopardy for crimes possibly committed there.

NAMIBIA: All Hiring for Iraq Haltedby Brigitte Weidlich, The NamibianOctober 16th, 2007A Namibian labour hire company, which processed the applications of Namibian ex-combatants who wanted to become 'security' guards in Iraq and Afghanistan, has stopped the process.

US: The People vs. the Profiteersby David Rose, Vanity FairOctober 4th, 2007Americans working in Iraq for Halliburton spin-off KBR have been outraged by the massive fraud they saw there. Dozens are suing the giant military contractor, on the taxpayers' behalf. Whose side is the Justice Department on?

Outsourcing Fearby Robert Young PeltonOctober 2nd, 2007Robert Young Pelton is the author of "Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror " and the "Guide to the World's Most Dangerous Places." He is also co-founder of http://www.iraqslogger.com/ . This blog item is about his experiences attending the Congressional hearing into the Blackwater shootings in Iraq written on October 2nd, 2007.

US: Chief of Blackwater Defends His Employeesby John M. Broder, New York TimesOctober 2nd, 2007Erik D. Prince, chief executive of Blackwater USA, told a Congressional committee on Tuesday that his company’s nearly 1,000 armed guards in Iraq were not trigger-happy mercenaries, but rather loyal Americans doing a necessary job in hostile territory.

US: Billions over Baghdad; The Spoils of Warby Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, Vanity FairOctober 1st, 2007Between April 2003 and June 2004, $12 billion in U.S. currency--much of it belonging to the Iraqi people--was shipped from the Federal Reserve to Baghdad, where it was dispensed by the Coalition Provisional Authority. Incredibly, at least $9 billion has gone missing, unaccounted for, in a frenzy of mismanagement and greed.

IRAQ: Blackwater Shooting Crisis Rallies Baghdadby Philip Shishkin, Wall Street Journal September 24th, 2007An escalating controversy over the alleged shooting of Iraqi civilians by a U.S. security firm has triggered the strongest challenge yet to legal immunity for some foreigners in Iraq, while providing a rare rallying cry for the country's polarized factions.

The Boys from Baghdad: Iraqi Commandos Trained by U.S. Contractorby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch September 20th, 2007Iraqi commandos are being training by USIS, a Virginia-based company that was once owned by the Carlyle Group. One of multiple "security" forces being created with $20 billion in U.S. funds, these Emergency Response Units may be stoking civil unrest as they accompany U.S. troops on raids.

IRAQ: Big oil’s waiting game over Iraq’s reserves
by Ed Crooks and Sheila McNulty, Financial TimesSeptember 19th, 2007Oil companies face a dilemma in Iraq over whether to wait for a new oil law which will give them a legal framework in which to operate or to sign agreements now with the Kurdistan Regional Government at the risk of sullying relations with Baghdad and the rest of the country.

US: Families Cannot Sue Firm for Israel Deathsby Ed Pilkington, Guardian (London) September 19th, 2007The parents of Rachel Corrie, the US peace activist who was crushed to death four years ago in the then Israeli-occupied Gaza as she was protesting against the demolition of Palestinian homes, have been refused permission to sue the company which made the bulldozer that killed her.

US: U.S. Contractor Banned by Iraq Over Shootingsby Sabrina Tavernise, New York TimesSeptember 18th, 2007Blackwater USA, an American contractor that provides security to some of the top American officials in Iraq, has been banned from working in the country by the Iraqi government after a shooting that left eight Iraqis dead and involved an American diplomatic convoy.

IRAQ: Will Iraq Kick Out Blackwater?by Adam Zagorin and Brian Bennett, TIME MagazineSeptember 17th, 2007TIME has obtained an incident report prepared by the U.S. government describing a fire fight Sunday in Baghdad in which at least eight Iraqis were reported killed and 13 wounded. The loss of life has provoked anger in Baghdad, where the Interior Ministry has suspended Blackwater's license to operate around the country.

Moving Water Industries Respondsby William E. BucknamSeptember 12th, 2007Moving Water Industries counsel sesponds to CorpWatch article on the company's role in fixing levees on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

CHINA: An Opportunity for Wall St. in China’s Surveillance Boomby Keith Bradsher, New York TimesSeptember 11th, 2007China Security and Surveillance Technology, a fast-growing company that installs and sometimes operates surveillance systems for Chinese police agencies, jails and banks, has just been approved for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The company’s listing is just a sign of ever-closer ties among Wall Street, surveillance companies and the Chinese government’s security apparatus.

US: Iraq convoy was sent out despite threatby T. Christian Miller, LA TimesSeptember 3rd, 2007Senior managers for defense contractor KBR overruled calls to halt supply operations in Iraq in the spring of 2004, ordering unarmored trucks into an active combat zone where six civilian drivers died in an ambush, according to newly available documents.

US: Army to examine Iraq contractsby Richard Lardner, Associated Press August 29th, 2007The Army will examine as many as 18,000 contracts awarded over the past four years to support U.S. forces in Iraq to determine how many are tainted by waste, fraud and abuse.

Casualties of Katrina: Gulf Coast Reconstruction Two Years after the Hurricaneby Eliza Strickland and Azibuike Akaba, Special to CorpWatchAugust 27th, 2007This CorpWatch report, by Eliza Strickland and Azibuike Akaba, tells the story of corporate malfeasance and government incompetence two years after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. This is our second report – Big, Easy Money by Rita J. King was the first – and it digs into a slew of new scandals.

IRAQ: U.S. Pays Millions In Cost Overruns For Security in Iraqby Steve Fainaru, The Washington PostAugust 12th, 2007U.S. military has paid $548 million over the past three years to two British security firms that protect the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on reconstruction projects, more than $200 million over the original budget, according to previously undisclosed data that show how the cost of private security in Iraq has mushroomed.

Philippine News: R.P. probes ‘trafficked OFWs’ in Iraqby Beting Laygo Dolor, Philippine NewsAugust 8th, 2007President Gloria Arroyo has ordered an investigation into reports that Filipino workers were forced to go to Iraq to work on the U.S. embassy there despite a ban on them traveling there. A report from the watchdog organization CorpWatch said that “other South Asians” were indeed working for First Kuwait Trading and Contracting in Iraq.